


All that Darkens is not Damned

by Vistariel



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, French Canon, French Culture and Social Policies, High Probability of Action/Adventure, High Probability of Being Epically Long, High Probability of Non-Akuma Villains, High Probability of Romance, High Probability of Sexual Content, Identity Reveal, Low Probability of Gratuitous Teen Angst, Lycée Setting, Moderate Probability of Drinking, Moderate Probability of Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-02-02 08:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12722817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vistariel/pseuds/Vistariel
Summary: Marinette, Adrien, and their friends are beginning their first year of Lycée. While Le Papillon remains at large, he has become less active, but the quiet is about to shatter from the convergence of magical forces within the heart of western Europe—both evil and beneficent. How will Ladybug and Chat Noir navigate the chaos of Lycée, budding love, Le Papillon, and overwhelming evils? With the help of one another...and perhaps some friends—both old and new. They will soon learn that the ancient demands of the Miraculous Wielder far outpace combating petty Akuma.





	All that Darkens is not Damned

**_“The greatest anxiety with which we are burdened—second the indiscriminate tendrils of death—is the absence of control.”_ **

\---

 _♪Rend a black drop from my heart_  
With the weight of days  
The end of time has just begun  
I hear it call your name♪

 “To what occasion do I owe this unexpected visit?”

Cerulean eyes darted open, but with nothing to be seen. Wisps of smoke obscured all around her. Without form or substance—nothing but amorphous billows of gray whirling about. Firm but patient, relaxed yet unrelenting—the voice pressed on:

“Well?”

A soft chuckle followed the pause. The echoes stirred in all directions. Unknown but oddly familiar, strong yet soothing—distinctly masculine. It rolled lazily over her like a slow spring breeze, or an autumn fog rolling off the Seine. Treading a line between mirth and melancholy: a presence enveloping everything as far as her eyes could see—which wasn’t very far. It left a paradoxical sensation of nakedness and concealment.

“Ladybug, I don’t recall you to be one lacking words. Nor proper manners,” he attempted—miserably—to muffle his chortling.

Ladybug? She gasped, and immediately looked down at her arms. No spots. No suit. Immediately swinging her hands to her head, her eyes widened in alarm as her fingers pressed against bear ears. No Miraculous, no Tikki, and no way out. Confusion and panic swiftly overwhelmed her. She sank to the ground and pressed her forehead to her knees—sobbing.

“Why the tears? Surely it can’t be all that bad?” while marked by compassion, the words were laced with amusement.

“My Miraculous. It’s gone! Did you take it?!” she sobbed out, clutching her knees tighter. She didn’t know where, who, or what was going on. This voice had just exposed her identity, her Miraculous had been spirited away, and the worst part was she couldn’t remember anything which had transpired prior to this moment. Her stomach sank, her head throbbed, and tears stung her cheeks.

“ _Shh shh_ , calm yourself Ladybug. None have taken your Miraculous, and neither have you lost it. You will surely find it where you left it last, and in short time no less,” he chuckled again. “In fact, I am certain of that. I suppose it may not be assuring to you now, but you are safe here.”

She didn’t feel safe and certainly didn’t feel calm, but neither did she feel threatened. Her fear welled up from the unprecedented unknown which closed around her.

“Where am I? Who are you? And what is going on?!” she rose, tensed and balled her fists as she shouted into the clouds.

“You needn’t shout. I will answer your questions as best I can. Where to begin?” he paused, but she heard a melody lift through the air—faint at first, but it grew till the source felt beside her. It was deep and rich. A stringed instrument, but almost human—cello perhaps? The sound was familiar, but as she strove to grasp the melody it slipped through her fingers. It nagged her that she couldn’t place it. As she listened she felt her distress trickling away. But it made no sense: she was clueless to her situation. Was this some trick of Akuma? She didn’t recall fighting an Akuma, and frankly she couldn’t recall much of anything of the immediate past. Her head felt fuzzy and clouded, not unlike the smoke coursing around her. Despite these things, however, she felt an unnatural calm overtake her.

 _♪And no straining of the string_  
Can reverse what will begin  
Some let go and some hold on  
There is no mistake♪

“Where are you?” he had stopped humming and his somber tone snapped her from her thoughts. His tone had sobered for the moment. “Well, I suppose that is a question we all unceasingly ask ourselves. I am afraid it is somewhat difficult to describe your location. You are in the place which can only be known insomuch as it is understood. It cannot be explained—only discovered. Well…” he faded off, collecting his thoughts again, “Perhaps that is not completely true. It can be explained to those who already know what it is. No doubt, the fact that you are here means you are venturing in that direction. I suppose the best I can do is say that you are a guest in my home, _albeit a rather rude one_ ,” his sniggering resurfaced through the last words.

“Gee, thanks. That’s _super_ helpful. This doesn’t look like a home. It doesn’t look like much of anything,” she whined as she exasperatedly flailed her arms through the vapors surrounding her. Her tears had dried, but she remained in a rather poor temperament: shock had given way to frustration.

“Indeed. It seemed as such to me once upon a time. It is formless because you lack understanding. Am I correct in presuming you cannot perceive me?”

“Unless you’re made of smoke,” she sighed dryly. Her eyes narrowed as she strained without success to identify anything from the obscure tendrils around her.

“Smoke? Remarkably different from what I recall. Hmm…no matter. Returning to your question: who am I? Well, I am the master here. That is all I can say for now, as it seems we are running short of time.”

As if cued by his words, Marinette felt and heard a low rumble resonate through her.

“Short? I just got here! You still haven’t explained why I’m here in the first place!” she objected, stomping her foot. Nothing was making any sense. He wasn’t answering any of her questions.

“My apologies. In due time you will find your answers, should you possess the tenacity to pursue them. That leads us to your last question: why are you here? Why indeed? That question has many answers—but few you will find satisfying. I can only provide one: you are here because it of the grave burden which you now shoulder. This may be your first time to stumble here, but far from your last.”

The rumbling grew louder. She could feel the ground shudder under her feet.

“You aren’t helping! Stop talking in riddles. What is happening?” frustration crumbled back into alarm as she felt the weight of her world begin to collapse upon her. The rumblings grew louder and more frequent, and she found it difficult to maintain her footing.

“Don’t fret, dear girl. You will have more answers than you can handle soon enough—and every answer leads to more questions. But I am sure there are others you may… _bug_ about it in the meantime. We will surely meet again soon, but for now we part ways. I’m afraid I will have to offer you a… _rain check_ for now! Adieu, Lady du Coeur!” he burst into roaring laughter and the smoke whipped furiously around Marinette.

“Wait! I don’t understand…none of this makes sense! Ahhh!” she cried, but it was too late. The vapors coalesced, and the earth cracked beneath her. A maelstrom of noise swarmed her ears as she fell backwards into the fissure.

“Oh! I forgot to mention something important!” the voice cried from above her as she descended into the abyss.

_♪If I could wash all ill away  
Tell me would you stay?♪_

“What?!”

“When you are ready, follow the raven!”

 _‘Raven? Ready for what?’_ but was swiftly snapped from her thoughts as she plummeted. She never feared falling. Being Ladybug assured that—no matter how dire the straits—her yo-yo would always secure the mark to spirit her from the jaws of gravity. No such luck this time. Darkness enveloped her as she sensed the impending doom: the depths of infinity rearing to swallow her.

_♪ **And no lovers sin**  
**Can reverse what will begin** ♪_

\---

**_BOOM._ **

Cerulean eyes darted open, but with too much too see. Though blurry, she rapidly surveyed her surroundings. Pink. Pink everywhere. Her room lay before her, the smell of the Boulangerie below her, and the sound of a heavy summer storm above her. Another lightning crack struck nearby, shaking her room with its passing. Her head throbbed, her body ached, and her eyes burned from gray light seeping from her windowsill. She swallowed, and became distinctly aware her throat felt horrible. Her body and bedding were drenched in sweat. It was all coming back to her: she had fallen ill yesterday. She passed out early in the evening, and now found herself clueless to the day or time. It would be Marinette’s luck to fall ill at the tail end of summer vacation.

‘How long have I been out?’ she groaned internally. Her eyes still jammed shut, she groped blindly about her bed for her cell phone. After a few minutes of half-heartedly and sleepily searching, she finally laid hold of her phone which had somehow slunk beneath her thigh. Pealing it from her skin, she turned it on and rubbed the residual sleep from her eyes to focus on the display.  3:30PM. She had been out for nearly 20 hours.

Marinette groaned, “This is awful. I was supposed to go to the Luv with Alya today!”

Hearing her stir, Tikki zipped from the bookshelf and landed on the pillow next to her.

“Good afternoon sleepyhead! You were out for a while. Your fever broke a few hours ago, but I was beginning to worry you would dehydrate. You should get some water and something to eat,” Tikki chirped in her usual enthusiastic tone.

Nodding her head and sighing—it hurt to talk—she made her way down the stairs to the bathroom. She didn’t have the energy to go all the way down to the kitchen. Neither did she want to bother her parents. She knew they were busy, but would drop everything to attend to her. She didn’t want to handle their fussing, and certainly didn’t want to talk. She stumbled into the bathroom, grabbed a cup she kept by the sink and filled it from the faucet.

A few gulps later she set the cup back on the lavatory and winced. Her throat stung something terrible, but her headache had abated. She looked to the shower—a tempting offer. Food would wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Consider this a small sample of chapter 1. This will be the only chapter I will be posting incomplete. I simply want to gauge if there is any interest based on the first three pages. Please leave comments if you are enthusiastic for more.  
> Lyrics come from Citizen of Glass, by Agnes Obel.


End file.
